Search

The article offers world news briefs related to the computer industry. Bundeskartellamt, competition authority in Germany, announced the $11.9 million fines to Microsoft Corp. for illegal fix prices of its Office software. Prime Minister Kevin Rudd of Australia asserts that the government will be spending billions to create the fiber-optic network. Google Inc. and Yahoo Inc. launched Web sites to cover federal elections in 2009 in India.

The article offers news brief concerning computer industries worldwide. In Luxembourg, Microsoft Corp. would now hear its verdict from the European Court of First Instance on September 1, 2007. India-based Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. revealed its revenue of 52 billion rupees for the second quarter of 2007 despite the appreciation of the Indian rupees against the U.S. dollar. In Italy, 26 people are arrested on the belief by Italian police that they are connected with an alleged phishing scam.

The article reports that computer dealers in Gujarat, India have shut down for a day to protest Microsoft Corp.'s charges that 13 of them shipped pirated copies of Windows with their computers. South Guharat Information Technologist Association president Bharat Randeri argues that computer dealers in the state follow policies that ban the use of pirated software. He contends that they do not install pirated software on their computer units. However, he explained that dealer employees sometimes install illegal software at the request of clients due to the expensiveness of legal products.

The article reports that Microsoft Corp. and Indian telecommunication service provider Bharti Airtel Ltd. have partnered to offer a set of hosted software and services for small and midsize businesses in India. The two companies will integrate enterprise-class software with connectivity services and market the bundle to businesses without dedicate information technology resources. The two companies will initially offer basic hosted services such as e-mail, calendaring and scheduling and will later add enterprise resource planning, accounting and customer relationship management applications as well as selected applications from Microsoft business partners.

The article reports on the recently revealed plans of Microsoft Corp. regarding creation of a network of 90 software development centers worldwide. This plan has been designed partly to help foster the creation of local software industries in various countries. The announcement of this plan was made during the Microsoft Government Leaders Forum Asia in Delhi, India. The 90 centers proposed in the plan will include about 60 existing facilities in countries such as Australia, Brazil, China, Germany, Japan and Malaysia. Apart from it Microsoft has also announced plans to invest $1.7 billion in India over the next four years. Talking to the reporters in New Delhi, company chairman and chief software architect Bill Gates told that the funds will be spent on Microsoft's development operations and in other areas.

The article presents news relating to the computer industry. Microsoft Corp. is offering users a tool kit that temporarily blocks the delivery of Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1 (SP1). Microsoft created the tool kit for customers who want to hold off on delivering SP1 to their servers. BEA Systems Inc. has disclosed plans to double the number of employees at its research and development center in Bangalore, India, over the next year. Google Inc. confirmed that it is developing an online payment system, although it says that it has no plans to take on eBay Inc.'s rival PayPal service. SAP AG has agreed to acquire Lighthammer Software Development Corp. to boost its expertise in manufacturing applications. SAP plans to develop adaptive manufacturing technology to deliver real-time transactional integration between ERP and plant-floor systems as well as unified, real-time analytics.